Chapter 1: Transcending the Yao Family's Situation
"Take your medicine."
Yao Xiaoyu, who was sitting half-upright, took the warm medicine bowl, pinched her nose, and drank it down. Zhou Chunhua waited for a while to make sure that the medicine would not be spat out before turning around and leaving.
Yao Xiaoyu slowly shifted from sitting against the wall to lying flat, listening to the voices outside, her eyes filled with confusion.
Isn't that a lucid dream I often have? How did it suddenly come true?
Yao Xiaoyu is not a person of this era. She grew up in the 21st century. She has both parents and relatives. In the universal sense, she is a happy girl. If she has any troubles, it is that she has bizarre dreams from time to time.
But this worry also became a help upon graduation. She was immediately overwhelmed by the job-hunting crowd after graduation. With the status of a recent graduate, she tried writing. Her dreams became her material, and many people were willing to pay for her articles. She did not become an overnight sensation, but her income was similar to that of an average office worker, and she had more free time.
With advanced modern productivity and low material desires, after receiving a stable income for six consecutive months, Yao Xiaoyu bought herself flexible employment social security, preparing to rely on books for retirement. However, this support has once again turned into a source of worry—her dreams are becoming longer, more frequent, and more realistic.
From Western fantasy to ancient times, from systems to transmigrating into books, there's nothing she can't imagine, nothing she can't act out in her dreams. So when Yao Xiaoyu appeared in front of her, she simply thought it was a dream with new elements added.
Oh, she's Yao Xiaoyu now; the one before her should be called the original owner.
The original owner asked her for help, saying that she hoped she could enter her body and support the Yao family in her place. Yao Xiaoyu was not one to be taken advantage of in the dream. She first asked for five million as payment. After the original owner agreed, they began to discuss the standards for supporting the Yao family.
If the original owner of this body, like her modern parents, only had her as a child, then she would naturally be responsible for taking care of her in her old age. But if she wasn't the only child, then it was up to the parents to choose who to take care of in their old age.
"I can't support your siblings forever. Modern children are eighteen years old and they also need to live independently."
She said to the original owner in a serious tone that even in a dream, she would not easily agree to take on the responsibility of someone or a group for a lifetime, as that would be too heavy a burden.
"you're right."
After careful consideration, the original owner agreed with her point of view and made the requirements for supporting the Yao family more specific: the elders' retirement expenses would be shared equally, and she would be responsible for the tuition and living expenses of her brothers and sisters if they could pass the exams.
"I don't know what life is like where you are. If it's really difficult, we might delay their schooling."
"I will only cover the basic living expenses; I will not cover gambling, singing, or drinking."
...
The original owner was exceptionally realistic, and she became increasingly serious during the discussion. After all the terms were agreed upon, she even began to worry about what would happen to her body here if she went there.
"The world is different, and time flows at different speeds. Ten years in my world is equivalent to half an hour in yours. If you die in my world, you can come back, but you might live a lifetime and still not have finished sleeping."
The original owner explained earnestly that life cannot be rewritten by others at will. She signed a very, very long document and learned a lot, but she could not tell them unless asked.
"Do you know why my dream has developed the way it is now?"
This answer, which didn't fit her usual persona, made Yao Xiaoyu's eyes light up. Although she knew that dreams were a manifestation of the subconscious, she still wanted to know the answers to some things in her heart.
“Every dream is a fragment of a different world. Your soul is too light, yet you are engaged in the writing industry, which is like giving your soul wings. If this continues, your soul may get lost in other worlds and never be able to return to your body.”
Behind every outrageous rule lies an outrageous story. That long document contained all sorts of situations, which Yao Xiaoyu didn't really understand, but that didn't stop her from parroting it.
"I don't want to get lost, what should I do?"
The original owner's answer was unexpected, but she liked the statement and became increasingly curious about her subconscious's answers to other questions.
"This is the default reward. Once you complete the task, your soul will be stabilized, like a kite with a string. No matter how far you run, you will always know where to return."
Only those with unstable souls can travel through the world, and only by completing tasks can souls be stabilized; these are mutually reinforcing.
"Ask me any other questions quickly, I'm leaving soon."
The original owner urged, and his entire soul began to turn into quicksand from his feet. At this rate of disappearance, it would only take one more question mark.
Why did you choose me?
Yao Xiaoyu noticed the changes in the original owner of the body, but like a foolish groundhog, she thought it was because she was about to wake up.
"Because other brands are too expensive."
The original owner left behind her last words and disappeared in front of Yao Xiaoyu. She thought she had woken up from sleepwalking, ate a bowl of noodles, and went back to bed to sleep. When she opened her eyes again, she was here. She drank bitter medicine for three days. It wasn't until the memory she received came to an end that Yao Xiaoyu realized she had transmigrated.
She looked at her left hand, turning it over and over but unable to find the scar left from playing with fire as a child. She could only blame herself for not being able to distinguish between reality and dreams, which led her to this era and this journey.
"Second sister, Grandma told you not to sleep yet, but to eat first."
A head popped out from the crack in the window, its voice so soft that Yao Xiaoyu could barely hear it.
"I see."
Yao Xiaoyu sat up, feeling dizzy, but compared to before when even moving a finger was difficult, she could clearly feel herself recovering.
It is now the third year of the Republic of China, and the original owner who signed the contract with her was a thirteen-year-old rich girl.
Two months ago.
The rise and fall of the Yao family both stemmed from the passing of their patriarch, Yao Daniu.
The Yao family's ancestral home is in Huizhou, a region characterized by seven parts mountains, half water, half farmland, and two parts roads and manors. For most, farming was a luxury, even giving rise to folk songs about it.
If you didn't cultivate good karma in your past life, you were born in Huizhou and thrown out into the world at the age of thirteen or fourteen.
People from Huizhou have a knack for business, and Yao Daniu was no exception. He went out to make his way in the world at the age of thirteen, and arrived in Shanghai at the age of sixteen. He worked and earned a carrying pole, starting his business by trading chicken feathers for sugar. By the age of twenty, he had acquired two acres of land in the county town of Shanghai and married his first wife, Zhang Xiu.
Marriage did not stop Yao Daniu from continuing his business. He opened a shop, made money and bought land and shops. By the time he was over forty, he had bought an entire street. However, Zhang Xiu never got pregnant, leaving his wealth without an heir.
Yao Daniu did not have the habit of taking concubines. After understanding Zhang Xiu's thoughts, he began to think about adoption. Who knew that one day when they were eating fish, Zhang Xiu suddenly started gagging. When the doctor took her pulse, he discovered that she was already several months pregnant.
The birth of an heir was a joyous occasion for the Yao family, but for some who coveted the Yao family's wealth, this news was not so pleasant. So, one day when Madam Yao went out for a walk, she suddenly slipped and went into premature labor!
Yao Daniu invited all the doctors, but they still couldn't save Zhang Xiu's life. Even her son's health was ruined because he was born prematurely. He started taking medicine at the age of breastfeeding, so it's uncertain whether he can take over the business or even have any descendants.
Even though the news has been relayed back, Zhang Xiu's life and the child's health can never be restored.
The widowed father faced constant troubles raising his son, and Yao Daniu also had business to do outside, making it impossible for him to balance family and career. After driving away the sixth wet nurse and the eighth old maid who had ulterior motives, he finally prepared to get married.
Zhou Chunhua appeared at this time.
Thirteen-year-old Zhou Chunhua went into the water to save her younger brother who was drowning while playing, despite being on her period. After coming out of the water, she was unable to have children. At the time, her brother cried and said he would take care of Zhou Chunhua in her old age, but after learning that the money Zhou Chunhua was paying for his own marriage was the same money he was paying for his own dowry, he started demanding that his family marry Zhou Chunhua off. He also complained that Zhou Chunhua couldn't have children and therefore couldn't be sold for a high price.
Zhou Chunhua felt heartbroken upon hearing this, but she couldn't bear to let her younger brother pay with his life. So she used her savings to buy sleeping pills and hemostatic powder, and after drugging everyone in the family, she turned her brother into her sister. Thinking that two bullets and a needle couldn't make up for the whole life, she turned her father into her second mother.
It's barely even.
Having settled her accounts, Zhou Chunhua turned and ran to a neighboring county. There she happened to run into Yao Daniu chasing people away. She inquired about the situation while working there, and then took the initiative to go to Yao Daniu and tell him her story. She became Yao Daniu's second wife.
Zhou Chunhua couldn't have children, so he doted on Yao Ping'an as if he were his own son. Yao Daniu was a born businessman, and without any worries, he went all out to make a fortune. By the time Yao Ping'an got married, his family business had doubled.
Oh, Yao Ping'an is the child that Zhang Xiu risked her life to give birth to. Yao Daniu originally wanted to name him Qubing or Qiji, but the fortune teller said that he was too big to be controlled, so in the end he only named him Ping'an, which is the simplest name.
Peace and safety are Yao Daniu's greatest hope for his only son.
With her only son in poor health, Yao Daniu had no hope of having a son to carry on the family line. But fate always smiles on you unexpectedly. Wenrou became pregnant the year she married into the family, and in the autumn of the following year, she gave birth to Yao Tianrui, the eldest grandson of the Yao family.
Two years later, the original owner of the body was born again.
Three years later, she gave birth to her third daughter, Yao Xiaoli.
The successive births of children drove Yao Daniu mad with joy, and he channeled all his energy into the business world, causing his already enormous family fortune to surge even further.
Until the first year of the Republic of China.
The overthrow of imperial dynasties heralded the rise of warlords. As the saying goes, "If my neighbor hoards grain, I hoard guns; my neighbor is my granary." No matter how capable Yao Daniu was, he was just a businessman, and in the eyes of those with a little power, he was a piece of fat meat.
Even the worst order is better than no order at all. When the emperor was still on the throne, the Yao family only needed to pay the highest taxes to the emperor. After the Republic of China came to power, some local thugs and ruffians dared to use Mauser pistols to rip off the Yao family.
With layers of exploitation and endless taxes, the Yao family suffered countless injustices, yet their fortunes continued to decline day by day. Over the years, their once vast wealth was reduced to a pile of nails on a rotten ship.
Yao Daniu was unwilling to live such a life. Coincidentally, a few months ago, there was cheap grain for sale in the north. He could make money by transporting it over. Yao Daniu took stock of his remaining assets, mortgaged his house, borrowed from all his relatives and friends, and took the few remaining employees north, intending to earn enough to cover several years' expenses in one go.
A note from the author:
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I've started a new story, this time it's about a little fish.
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